The Hottest Professional Bull Riders From Each State

1. Dalton Kasel, NM

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

As a youngster, Kasel rode in various villages on the eastern plains of New Mexico, he stated. He is currently No. 2 on the world list, behind Brazil's Jose Vitor Leme, who could not compete at the decisive PBR Ty Murray Invitational at the Pit due to a recent injury. Kasel is the highest-ranked American in the Unleash the Beast global championship standings for the 2022–2023 season.

2. Daylon Swearingen, NY

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

All you have to do, according to Daylon Swearingen, is look. It is out there, he says. Swearingen, a native of Piffard, New York, won the title of 2022 PBR World Champion as his career progressed to new heights. He is most certainly the most talented and prominent emerging star in the current promotion.

3. Jess Lockwood, MT

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

When you think of success in rodeo, you think of Jess Lockwood. He has won numerous awards, including Rookie of the Year in 2016 and the PBR's youngest world champion in 2017. In 2019, Jess also set a record for the most earnings in a single season and became the youngest two-time world champion in PBR history. To date, he has won 29 official competitions.

4. Stetson Wright, UT

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Stetson Wright has quickly built a good reputation among rodeo professionals. He was compared to Ty Murray, a member of the Hall of Fame who competed in all three roughstock disciplines. Stetson is the only cowboy in PRCA history to begin his career with three consecutive all-around victories. He is also the first rodeo professional to win three consecutive all-around championships since Trevor Brazile did so.

5. Dee Pickett, ID

Image Source: Idaho's Hall Of Fame

After an outstanding football career at Boise State University as a quarterback, Pickett had the chance to trial for two professional football clubs. However, he chose to pursue rodeo instead, and in 1984, he won two world championships in the all-around and team roping. In 1978, he won the PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year award, which marked the beginning of his success in the rodeo world. He later qualified for an additional 19 NFRs. He is one of ProRodeo all-time greatest athletes.

6. Andrew Alvidrez, TX

Image Source: Twitter

Andrew Alvidrez, a Texas native who is now ranked No. 26 in the world, has amassed over $430,000 in lifetime winnings. "When I was three or four years old, I watched the movie "8 Seconds," and ever since then, I knew I wanted to be a bull rider," he said in an interview. The last event he took part in was PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, where he got 89 points.

7. Bob Mitchell, MO

Image Source: Covering The Ride

The PBR Rookie of the Year winner admitted that he is still working on understanding how to handle younger ABBI bulls, learning how to make use of his taller physique against smaller bovine opponents. Mitchell, who climbed to No. 13 in the world rankings and is, for the first time in his career, firmly established on the Unleash The Beast, is 8-for-16 in six UTB competitions.

8. Derek Kolbaba, WA

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

Ranked no. 26 in the world, Derek Kolbaba is most known for competing in the Built Ford Tough Series in Oklahoma City in 2016. He's been into rodeo long before he turned his passion into a professional career thanks to his father, who was also a professional bull rider in the PRCA.

9. Tyler Manor, IN

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

Manor began his professional bull-riding career as soon as he could legally; his first pro ride was in October 2022, one day after he turned 18. After strong rides in Greenville, South Carolina, and Rainsville, Alabama, Tyler Manor was invited to make his official debut with one of the Professional Bull Riders' premier series, the Unleash the Beast Tour.

10. Tate Pollimeir, KS

Image Source: Professional Bull Riders

On his last 2023 competition night in Indianapolis, the rookie from Kansas, who made his league debut during the first PBR Team Series season in late 2022 as a member of the Oklahoma Freedom, was teamed with Bottom's Up (K Bar C Bucking Bulls/TCB Ranch). The young gun, who is only 18 years old, won the round with a career-best score of 88.25 points.

11. Keyshawn Whitehorse, UT

Image Source: Las Vegas Review Journal

Whitehorse rode the bull for the first time professionally in 2018 and took home the Rookie of the Year award. Proud of his Navajo roots, he wears a multi-colored beaded belt buckle that his grandmother fashioned, as opposed to the shining belts that most riders wear and other traditional handmade accessories. He proudly celebrates his culture, and that's why so many people love him.

12. Braidy Randolph, PA

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Since high school, Randolph has competed against the best. Ever since they were teenagers, Stetson Wright, the finest bull rider in the country, and Randolph have faced off against one another, with each taking home victories along the way. Randolph has no doubt that he will soon be winning the big title, leg injuries and an All-Star field of rivals be damned.

13. Colten Fritzlan, CO

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Colten Fritzlan's career started during his dad's competitions at amateur rodeos. He's now ranking no. 49 in the world, and leading the bull riding and saddle bronc riding. “Bull riding is my favorite since I’ve been doing it the longest, but I also like that you’re not just competing against the animal or another competitor, but you’re bringing those forces together and seeing how it comes out when you make eight,” he said in an interview.

14. Rafael Henrique Dos Santos, GA

Image Source: Wrangler Network

At the 2021 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Bad Boy Mowers Mowdown, Rafael Henrique Dos Santos rode his way toward his first elite Unleash The Beast (UTB) victory. Currently ranked no. 28 in the world, he has completed more than 140 rides. Santos moved up in the world rankings as a result of his first UTB victory, which earned him a reward of $25,536.52 and 133.5 world points.

15. Boudreaux Campbell, TX

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

He has competed in the PBR Team Series since 2022 for the Carolina Cowboys. Campbell earned an entry for the CBR World Finals in 2017 and 2018, the event's final year. He also qualified for the PRCA National Finals Rodeo from 2017 through 2021 and was the 2017 PRCA Bull Riding Rookie of the Year.

16. Eli Vastbinder, NC

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

Eli Vastbinder, who is currently ranked No. 9 in the world, was born and raised close to Dayton and won both the Ohio Little Britches Junior Bull Riding Championship and the Ohio State High School Rodeo Championship. After graduating from high school, he began competing in bull riding competitions and has been touring with Koby Radley.

17. Koltin Hevalow, MO

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

Koltin Hevalow made history as the first bull rider to enter his first-ever PBR event and take home the victory. He won the Bad Boy Mowers Youngtown Invitational of the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT) as his first career award. Additionally, he was the sole participant in the 2021 competition to go 3-for-3. He finished in a tie for eighth place in the first night's competitions, but he was undefeated in both rounds of competition and is currently ranked 49th in the world with 41 world points.

18. Marcus Mast, IN

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Marcus is one of the most talented bull riders in the world who has worked hard to climb the PBR ranks all the way to PBR Unleash the Beast series. His most memorable ride was at the PBR Monster Energy Team Challenge, where his captain was Less Lockwood. He also gained 86.5 points during that ride. Mast is now aiming to make it to PBR finals on his own.

19. Brady Oleson, ID

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Ranking no. 23 in the world, Brady Oleson got his first-ever "big bull" at only 12 years old, and he instantly became interested in riding. He got the highest-market ride of his entire rodeo career and won Round 1 of his very first Professional Bull Riding World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2022, which came with 91 world points and $35,000.

20. Wyatt Rogers, OK

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

Wyatt Rogers, ranking no. 75 in the world, was taught to ride by his father, Warren "Dusty" Rogers, who was a team roper and steer wrestler. Wyatt was raised in a rodeo environment; his parents even organized kids' rodeos in northeastern Oklahoma for several years. The professional cowboy aspires to ultimately participate in the Professional Bull Riding Tour.

21. Casey Roberts, AL

Image Source: Professional Bull Riders

Casey Roberts began riding bulls at the ripe age of seven, but he also had a strong passion for baseball. It's obvious which sport he chose, eventually. The three-time Alabama High School Rodeo Association champion is swiftly developing into an unanticipated force for Oklahoma Freedom and has been the most impressive rookie rider in the PBR Team Series thus far.

22. Brady Turgeon, AZ

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

At the end of night two of the 2023 three-day competition in Billings, Montana, Brady Turgeon, then 19 years old, had won Round 1 of the PBR Unleash The Beast Wrangler Invitational with a huge 90-point ride, defeating 36 of the best bull riders in the world. He rose to No. 49 in the UTB standings after winning Round 2.

23. Cooper Davis, TX

Image Source: Beaumont Enterprise

Cooper Davies ranks no. 51 in the world, having 11 years of professional rodeo under his belt. He also has one of the riskiest jobs in the entire world. He injured both of his ankles, a shoulder, and his jaw while competing as a professional bull rider, but he still managed to win the World Finals in 2015 and the World Championship in 2016.

24. Chase Outlaw, AR

Image Source: AY Magazine

Even the next generation of professional bull riders looks up to Chase as a success story. He does not treat this lightly, though. He knew he wanted to be a bull rider when he was just four or five years old, and now he's winging it. He and his wife host local rodeos for aspiring riders because they believe that passing on the skills to the next generation of bull riders is crucial.

25. Dakota Louis, MT

Image Source: Great Falls Tribune

Dakota Louis is confident in his ability to influence others, and he will keep working toward that goal: He aims to inspire more Native Americans to pursue careers in rodeo or work on ranches as he does in Montana. Louis, from the Blackfeet Tribe, is a three-time winner of the Indian National Finals Rodeo. His goal is to show indigenous people that everything is possible.

26. Dawson Branton, OR

Image Source: Wrangler Network

When bull riding superstar Myron Duarte married into the family, Dawson Branton knew exactly what he wanted to achieve with his life. Branton is a rider on the Professional Bull Riders circuit, and over the past few years, he has started to make a name for himself as one of the tour's up-and-comers. Additionally, he was chosen to compete in the PBR Team Series in 2021.

27. Aaron Williams, CA

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Aaron Williams participated in his first rodeo at the ripe age of three. Most recently, he won the Bakersfield Buck Off of the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour at Mechanics Bank Arena in 2023, marking his first-ever victory on the PWVT. Williams scored 108 Velocity Global points on his 1-for-2 night.

28. Jesse Petri, TX

Image Source: Wrangler Network

Jesse has been bull riding since he was nine years old and continues to ride with the same tenacity he did when he first decided he wanted to dedicate his life to the sport. He has already achieved a lot in his short career, including winning the MS PRCA Bull Riding Championship in 2016 and the Southern States Bull Riders Tour championship in 2015.

29. Conner Halverson, NE

Image Source: Wrangler Network 

Ranking no. 38 in the world, Conner Halverson was a successful collegiate wrestler and two-time state champion in high school bull riding. In 2021, he advanced his professional career by winning his first PBR events and making it to his first PBR World Finals. Halverson, who still has many objectives to achieve, is regarded as one of the upcoming PBR stars to watch in the upcoming seasons.

30. Clayton Sellars, CA

Image Source: Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding

Sellars has been riding since the age of seven. Although Clayton makes his living by riding bulls, he is an ardent horseman and has rodeo friends in every competition. Following knee surgery and rehabilitation, he began the 2020 WNFR in 14th place; however, in 2022, he claimed his spot early and held onto it.